NIA's 2003 Annual Convention Program

ITFS Meeting the Challenge of Broadband in 2003

February 17-20, 2003

Wyndham Harbour Island Hotel

Tampa, Florida

 

Welcome!

 

The year 2003 will almost certainly be the year when ITFS licensees face the most radical changes and most critical decisions in the years since the FCC authorized the current relationships between ITFS and commercial wireless operators.

This week you will see and hear presentations, demonstrations, and exhibits that will provide you with information that will be critical to your decisions in a time of changing regulation and new technology. It is information that NIA believes will help ITFS licensees preserve, develop and use their spectrum to achieve their current and future goals for "Anytime, Anyplace, Any Path, Any Pace," distance learning

We hope this opportunity to network with the leaders of the ITFS and MMDS industries, the most knowledgeable engineers, the government regulators, and the most experienced and successful ITFS educators at NIA 2003, will prove to be highly valuable to your and your organization.

Subjects covered in the NIA 2003 Annual Convention Sessions

ITFS and MMDS Direction

Getting the Most from your ITFS System

under the

 New FCC Rules

Instructional Materials for the New ITFS

Luncheon

Guest Speaker - John Schauble

Chief, Policy and Rules Branch

Public Safety & Private Wireless Division

Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, FCC

What you need to know about the

Proposed New ITFS/MMDS Band Plan and Rules

Revenue Potential and Financing Possibilities for

New ITFS Broadband Systems

New Technology for ITFS and MMDS

New ITFS/MMDS Technology Exhibits and Demonstrations

NIA Annual Member/Membership Meeting & Annual Report

Celebrating 25 Years of Service

The New ITFS Band Plan/Rules and Excess Capacity Leasing

The Final "Q & A"

More information about each of the above subjects

 is provided below.

ITFS and MMDS Direction

The leaders discuss the goals for ITFS and MMDS that led to the joint proposal for a new FCC Rule for the ITFS and MMDS spectrum

Getting the Most from your ITFS System

under the  New FCC Rules

New FCC Rules for ITFS as a true broadband medium will offer ITFS directors new opportunities to maximize the educational and revenue benefits for their licensees.  What are those opportunities and how do you prepare, now, for the time when an MMDS operator decides it is time to transition your Geographic Service Area (GSA) to New Rules and technology.

Instructional Materials for the New ITFS

Elementary and secondary schools are responding to ballooning enrollments an declining budgets by adopting new digital materials that can improve student achievement without substantially increasing total costs.  A new broadband ITFS can provide the interactivity and delivery capacity that will permit schools districts to serve thousands of students.  Riverdeep and Boxer provide digital learning materials that are widely used in America's schools.

What you need to know about the

Proposed New ITFS/MMDS Band Plan and Rules

 

NIA, Catholic Television Network, and WCAI have proposed comprehensive changes in FCC Rules that will dramatically improve the capacity of ITFS to provide both educational and commercial services.  The new band plan dedicates a portion of ITFS/MMDS spectrum to low power two-way audio, video and data services while protecting the continued use of ITFS for one-way high power video services.

 

A proposed transition plan would insure that ITFS licensees receive the financial and technical support needed to make the transition.

Revenue Potential and Financing Possibilities for

New ITFS Broadband Systems

Under the proposed new FCC Rule, ITFS licensees could decide to use the un-leased portion of their spectrum to create an institution-wide LAN for data retrieval, e-mail, and/or voice communications.

BIA Financial Network will discuss the issue and compare the costs and benefits of the alternative wireless LAN solutions followed by a discussion of possible sources of capital for construction of such a system.

New Technology for ITFS and MMDS

To become successful, competitors in broadband ITFS/MMDS need technology that will overcome:  the line-of-sight handicap; provide sufficient two-way capacity to reach audiences large enough to justify capital investments; are reliable; and, lower current costs for subscriber installations.

What are those technologies?  Who are the developers and where and how are they being tested and used?

New ITFS/MMDS Technology Exhibits and Demonstrations

 

Axcera and NextNet® Wireless will demonstrate different approaches to providing new non-line-of-sight, portable, high speed internet access that offers lower subscriber install costs and the promise that ITFS and MMDS licensees will be able to develop reliable and economic services that deliver community wide broadband Internet and WAN services.

 

NIA Annual Member/Membership Meeting & Annual Report

 

"25 Years at 2.5 - An Abbreviated History of NIA"

Presented by Ted Steinke - NIA Past Chairman

 

The New ITFS Band Plan/Rules and Excess Capacity Leasing

 

If the FCC implements the proposal by NIA, CTN and WCAI to rework the ITFS/MMDS band plan and rules, what are the implications for existing and future ITFS excess capacity leases?

 

Do existing leases remain in effect?  Do they need to be amended?  What issues need a fresh look in negotiating a new lease?  What does MMDS need to produce a viable commercial service?  What does ITFS licensees need to provide a service that fulfills the educational potential of their ITFS licenses?  These issues are addressed in this session.

 

The Final "Q & A"

 

Presenters will be on-hand to answer both written and spontaneous questions that were not answered during the earlier sessions and to suggest some next steps that licensees should be taking to prepare for the transition to a new band plan and Rule. 

 

 

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